College and Research Libraries MICHAEL D. KATHMAN and JANE M. KATHMAN Management Problems of Student Workers in Academic Libraries This paper analyzes the problems related to the management of student workers in academic libraries. It reviews relevant literature in library sci- ence and in management theory, with special emphasis placed on an under- standing of what motivates student workers and on the valuable contribu- tion they may make in the academic library. Finally, suggestions are offered relative to the hiring, training, and supervision of student workers. MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN both pro and con on the use of student workers in li- braries.1 A review of this literature reveals a lack of application of management theory, especially that of organizational behavior, in handling student personnel problems. The literature does show, however, that librar- ians are concerned with increasing the effec- tiveness of student workers in their organi- zations . In order to encourage better per- formance from student workers, 'there is a definite need to understand and deal with motivational processes and styles of supervi- sion as they relate to the student. As a result of cultural conditioning, people today, including ~tudents, expect more satisfaction from their jobs, increasing responsibility and autonomy, and participa- tion in decision making. 2 Thus the problems associated with student workers are not unique to libraries but potentially exist in any organization. It is important that these problems are not perceived as unique and that one makes use of the body of informa- tion available in organizational behavior to propose solutions. BACKGROUND In the library, students are low on the Michael D . Kathman is director, Alcuin Li- brary, and Jane M. Kathman is lecturer in eco- nomics, St. John's University , Collegeville, Min- nesota. 118/ organizational chart, either because they are students or because they are part-time em- ployees or for both reasons. This creates problems of integrating student workers into the organization in terms of the attention th_ey receive from top-level management. They are seldom perceived as a valuable re- source because of the nature of the work they do, their large numbers , or because they are replacements for full-time person- nel. As a result, student assistants have lit- tle or no participation in the decision- making processes, even those that directly affect their work. It is not surprising then that they either do not understand or are not committed to the library's goals. This noncommitment is unfortunate when one realizes that student assistants are in- dispensable to the goal of providing maxi- mum service to library users. Not only do they perform essential tasks, they also ena- ble the library to function in satisfying the demand for long hours of operation. In this respect they are highly visible and often represent the library to the user. Moreover, as a result of their peer relationships with student library patrons, the student assist- ants in public areas are often asked ques- tions. If they do not know the answers or, even worse, give wrong information instead of directing the patron to a librarian, the li- brary is not serving its purpose. Thus good professional librarians are not . sufficient to make an academic library func- tion efficiently; all employees-librarians, paraprofessionals , clerks, and student workers-must be aware of the library's goals and be committed to service if the li- brary is to meet the needs of its users. PROBLEMS The hiring of student assistants is some- what unique since there often exists a pre- selected pool of student employees. Student employees may be preselected either by. the financial aid office or the student placement office. In recent years the federally funded Col- lege Work Study Program has provided the funds for a larger and larger percentage of student workers. At St. John's University over half of the 700 or more students em- ployed are part of this program. This is beneficial to the students because it is a means of helping them keep loans to a rea- sonable level, but as a result the university employs students in situations where other institutions might hire more full-time non- students. From this pool of students, various de- partments on campus vie for student help, e.g., administrative offices, academic de- partments, food service, and the library. It is important that the library establish and enforce criteria for the selection process based on ability and willingness to perform the tasks. This selection process is even more criti- cal when considering the contemporary academic library' s expansion into fields other than printed matter. For example , many academic libraries are utilizing technologies involving elaborate media equipment and computers. Because of such special library services, it is even more difficult now to hire qualified student assist- ants.3 - The goals of providing maximum service and efficient operation cannot be achieved in libraries employing a large number of student assistants unless there is an adequate training procedure. Past experi- ence has shown that student help is notori- ously inefficient without proper training. 4 Unfortunately, the task of training student workers has been a relatively low priority, often delegated to junior members of the staff. As a result, people with little or no Management Problems I 119 knowledge of training techniques are re- sponsible for training and communicating the goals of the library. A common result of such training is the inability of student workers to understand their role in helping the library to achieve its goals. Oftentimes students view their work as merely "busy work" and consequently perform poorly. Supervision of student assistants is also often handled by people with little or no previous supervisory experience or training. This might be just as true of professional li- brarians as it is of nonprofessional staff members. Supervision is e~en more difficult when one considers the number of student workers reporting to one person and the physical distance that often separates stu- dent workers from their supervisors. There are also problems of scheduling around stu- dent class hours and having student workers on the job evenings and weekends when supervisors are not present or, in some cases, when none of the full-time staff are on duty. Many of the problems discussed in terms of training and supervision result in motivational problems for student workers. They are given tasks that they often per- ceive to be unimportant or trivial when in fact they are not. Additionally, the library is not and should not be the primary concern of the student. Lack of commitment and unawareness of the relationship between the job being performed and overall library goals often result in poor performance on the part of the student. Too many student workers feel the col- lege or university owes them a job and view the library as an easy place to earn their "work award." This view is only reinforced when the full-time staff of the library per- ceive the student work force as a dumping ground for unwanted tasks. RELATED THEORY AND RESEARCH The concepts of motivation have been in- creasingly utilized in organizations, includ- ing libraries, in an effort to improve em- ployee performance, increase productivity, or increase employee satisfaction. Be- havioral scientists have contributed much to the understanding of motivational behavior in organizations. The underlying tenet of 120 I College & Research Libraries • March 1978 much of the work dealing with motivation is that individval behavior is goal-directed. That is, behavior is influenced by individual goals along with the individual's perceptions of how these goals can be achieved. 5 The literature of management tends to view employees as individuals who work full-time for an organization. Such full-time employees are committed to work as a long-term career rather than a short-term job; with student workers the position is just a short-term job. Recently both Gannon and Morse have researched the growing number of employees whom they regard as peripheral employees. Morse defines the peripheral worker as one who has had work experience of any kind other than full-time for a full year. 6 Gannon further explains the characteristics of the peripheral worker "as having only a partial commitment to the organization, views work not as a career but as a job that can easily be discarded, and as secondary to other activities. " 7 This description closely parallels that of the student worker. Studies of peripheral employees con- ducted by Gannon reveal that peripheral employees are not motivated by job-related attitudes. "For such individuals, the job seems to be such a minor source of remun- eration that it can virtually be eliminated from their perspective and outlook. "8 The policy implications from Gannon's studies suggest that managers of peripheral em- ployees, including library supervisors, should be aware of the fact that new motivational techniques might be necessary for such employees. PROBLEM ANALYSIS As noted earlier, the problems associated with hiring student assistants are somewhat unique since the library must often deal with a preselected pool of employable stu- dents as a result of university policies for the distribution of grants-in-aid. The library should develop clearly defined internal policies for the selection of student assist- ants from this externally generated pool. The primary criterion should be the stu- dent's ability and willingness to perform li- brary tasks. Consideration of the student's academic standing will indicate the ability to devote time to library work, while consider- ation of the student's special interests and previous work experience may be helpful in determining the specific tasks to be per- formed.9 The number of hours per week the stu- dent is available for work should be a crite- rion in the selection process. Ten hours per week is generally regarded as a minimum, while even better results can be obtained if no student is employed for less than fifteen hours per week. 10 This is a difficult criterion to apply since it is dependent upon wage rates and the university's decision on the number of awards versus the size of the awards. Finally, prospective student employees should be interviewed to ascertain whether they can fulfill the established criteria. If there is no personnel officer within the li- brary, a prospective student employee's immediate supervisor and a senior librarian should conduct the interview. The time spent and choice of a member of the staff high in the organization should communi- cate to students that they are important re- sources in the library operation and that as individuals they are valuable to the organi- zation.11 The problem of supervising student workers in academic libraries can be analyzed in term.s of a behavioral model for effective leadership. Such a model, House's path-goal model, stresses that the functions of a leader are to clarify the nature of the task, reduce roadblocks from successful task completion, and increase the opportunities for subordinates to attain personal goals. To the extent that the leader accomplishes these functions, the motivation of subordi- nates will increase. 12 House's model further stresses that the type of leadership style varies according to the situation. Research has indicated that workers performing routine tasks have re- ported high job satisfaction when their im- mediate supervisor uses a supportive lead- ership style. Individuals operating in an un- structured task environment are more pro- ductive when their immediate supervisor uses a more directive leadership style. 13 Student assistants in academic libraries have the long-range goal of obtaining an education. Therefore, work in the library is basically a short-run goal or, in Gannon's terms, secondary to other activities. Library work gives the student the financial re- sources necessary to obtain the desired edu- cation. Supervisors who recognize this goal relationship will tend to develop a suppor- tive leadership style expressing concern for the student's needs and goal achievement. In effect, the student's supervisor has a "dual function of seeing the student as both worker and learner. " 14 Clarifying the nature of the task will come about through the implementation of clearly defined training procedures. Hollman's study of orientation procedures in industry suggests the division of a training program into two distinct phases: general orientation and specific training. 15 The general orientation should include: (1) a description of the library's function on campus, including all types of service it provides, its basic goals, and an introduction to all full-time personnel; (2) an outlipe of policies and procedures for reporting to work, absences, and safety information; and (3) a floor plan or description of the physical layout of the library. Methods for transmitting this information can be verbal, written, audiovisual, or some combination of the three. The technique used will depend upon the number of stu- dents involved, along with the time the li- brary administration can devote to the preparation of the orientation session. Once the general orientation session is held, the students can be divided into groups for specific training to include (1) in- troduction to the tasks to be performed, in- cluding objectives and how they relate to overall library service and (2) the specific training needed. The specific training should be conducted by the student's immediate supervisor and is usually in the form of verbal instruction. The use of verbal instruction at this point will enable the supervisor and the student assistant to establish a two-way flow of communication at the outset. The student assistant should be able to ask questions and receive immediate feedback to clarify the nature of the work to be performed. In terms of training, the supervisor takes on a combined leadership style that is both directive and supportive by relating the im- portance of these tasks to the library's serv- Management Problems I 121 ice goals. Once the training procedure has been completed, the most effective leader- ship style will lean toward one that is sup- portive. As mentioned previously, much of the work performed by student assistants in the library is routine in nature. There is little intrinsic satisfaction obtained from the ac- tual performance of the tasks. However, a supportive supervisor can provide student assistants increased extrinsic satisfaction in terms of the work environment created and the interpersonal relatioQ.ships established. Students certainly have the ability to per- form library tasks, and a supportive super- visor will communicate that the responsibil- ity for completion of these tasks belongs to the student. If the training procedure has clarified the importance of the tasks in the overall opera- tion of the library, students should have some perception of how their duties in the library help to achieve the organizational goals of maximum and efficient service. If the service goals of the library have been ef- fectively communicated, student workers will also recognize the value of the library to their primary goal of learning. In addition, _ student workers may be able to provide valuable input into how these services can best be delivered to other pa- trons. The supportive supervisor will recog- nize the dual role of the student worker as both worker and patron and remain open to suggestions for better service. CONCLUSION Student workers are a critically under- utilized resource in many college libraries. Current management theory combined with common sense and an awareness of the problems can make library work an enjoy- able learning experience for the student worker. It is crucial, however, that librar- ians be involved in ·the process of hiring student workers, that they develop adequate orientation and training proce- dures, and that they enable student workers to perceive themselves as important mem- bers of the staff. All those who supervise students should be encouraged to ·develop supportive styles of leadership. From the top down, the student worker must be rec- ognized as a valuable human resource. 122 I College & Research Libraries • March 1978 REFERENCES 1. Keith Cottam, "Student Employees in Academic Libraries," College & Research Li- braries 31:246-48 (July 1970). B. P. James, Supervising Student Workers: Berea College Labor Supervisors in Action (Westport, Conn.: Education Foundation of America, 1974). (Issued also as ERIC publication ED 092014.) Guy Lyle, The Administration of College Libraries (4th ed.; New York: Wil- son, 1974), p.1~9. Andrew Melnyk, "Stu- dent Aides in Our Lipraries (Blessings and Headaches)," Illinois Libraries 58:141-44 (Feb. 1976). W . H. Williams, "Factors Relat- ing to the Employment of Student Assistants in Major American College and University Libraries" (M.L.S. thesis, Brigham Young Univ., April 1969). Alice E. Wright, Library Clerical Workers and Pages (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1973). 2. Sam Zagoria, "Searching for Meaning in Work," in D . Hellriegel and J. W. Slocum, Jr., eds., Management in the World Today; A Book of Readings (St. Paul: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1975) p.260. ·3. Melnyk, "Student Aides in Our Libraries," p.14l. 4. Williams, "Factors Relating to the Employ- ment of Student Assistants." 5. For more information on motivational be- havior in organizations, see: C. Argyris, Inte- grating the Individual and the Organization (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1964). Edward Giblin, "Motivating Employees: A Closer Look," Personnel journal 55:68-71 (Feb. 1976). D. Hellriegel and J. Slocum, Jr., Organizational Behavior: Contingency Views (St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1976). F. Herzberg, B. Mausner, and B. Snyder- man, The Motivation to Work (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1959). A. Maslow, Motivation and Personality, rev. ed. (New York: John Wiley and Sons; 1959). David A. Whitsett, "Making Sense of Management Theories," Personnel 52:44-52 (May-June 1975). 6. Dean Morse, The Peripheral Worker (New York: Columbia Univ. Pr., 1969), p.9. 7. Martin J. Gannon, "The Management of Peripheral Employees," Personnel journal 54:483 (Sept. 1975). 8. Ibid., p.484. 9. Melnyk, "Student Aides in Our Libraries," p.14l. 10. Lyle, The Administration of the College Li- brary, p.168. 11. Rose Wyttels, et al, "A Study of the Role and Needs of Student Workers in Alcuin Li- brary," May 1976. (A study of student work- ers at Alcuin Library, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, done by a group of students in management as a class assignment in consultation with Michael D. Kathman, di- rector.) 12. R. House and T. Mitchell, "Path-Goal Theory of Leadership," Contemporary Busi- ness 3:81-98 (1974). 13. Hellriegel and Slocum, Organizational Be- havior, p .312. 14. James, Supervising Student Workers: Berea College Labor Supervisors in Action, p.i. 15. Robert W. Hollman, "Let's Not Forget About New Employee Orientation," Person- nel journal 55:245-46 (May 1976).